Laster’s Augmented Reality “Pro Mobile Display”

Maybe I’m a cynical twice-burned jilted lover but I feel I’ve been here before. Thankfully, I fall in love again so easily.

Laster Technologies “Pro Mobile Display” has me intrigued enough for a lunch date at least and the company lists the PMD as a currently available product. Though its approximately $10,000 price and bulky appearance is a bit prohibitive for the everyday user. I contacted the company for specs on the PMD, but I won’t bother with them here since the price alone will keep all but the most dedicated away. And really, if you’re going to spend ten grand on some AR glasses, you’ll be inquiring yourself.

The company rep also said they’ll be releasing a pair of fashionable AR see-through glasses called SmartVision later this year. The product looks like the ones shown in this picture:

The initial release price will be similar to the PMD, though they say they are working on industrializing them to reach a price point of around $500 US. This would put them in reach of the high-end consumer which would be enough to get the ball rolling in my book, though that would be years away.

I’ll believe it when I see it, but I am encouraged that they had a working model already available in the PMDs, just not that worthy of wearing on a regular basis. The reality is that they could become vaporware just as easily as it could become a product, but at least it’s another horse in the race. I’ll keep my eyes pealed and keep you posted if anything else pops up.

Truly portable augmented reality through the use of PMD or HMD is really interesting and for the time being almost must be targeted at the industrial market for commercialization. The level of application development for consumer use of these devices really needs to ratchet up before significant numbers of buyers can be counted on.

Right now mobile AR on cell phones and laptop/desktop AR are the bells of the ball. Advertising/marketing and personal environment “augmentation” are the apps that are getting all the press. Large-scale consumer use is being targeted by companies such as my firm, Atomic Greetings and Hallmark.

We’re in the midst of a very exciting time for augmented reality – we’re seeing the technology go mainstream and becoming ubiquitous.